 I want to share with you out of Luke chapter 10 verses 38 through 42. I chose to entitle this particular message, laboring or listening. And it's a story we're all familiar with. It's found here in the Gospel of Luke chapter 10 verses 38 through 42. So I'll begin reading at verse 38. I'll read 2 verse 42 and we'll get into our study. Luke writes, now it happened as they went that he entered a certain village and a certain woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. But Martha was distracted with much serving and she approached him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me. And Jesus answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her. Now, as I was preparing this, I began to think about how many passages there are so many that have Jesus seated at a meal and join a meal with somebody. And in the Gospel of Luke, for example, Luke on various occasions makes mention of the fact that Jesus would go often and have meals. In chapter five, for example, of Luke verses 29 through 32, we have an example of Jesus at a man by the name of Matthew Levi's house. And that's the time that the people began to grumble within themselves because Jesus was eating with sinners and all. And that's when Jesus said that the sick, the sick don't go to the, the well don't go to the physician, only the sick will go to a physician. And he said, I haven't come to call the well, but the sick to salvation. You know, he took opportunity to not only have a meal, but he took the opportunity to minister to people. We see it in Luke 7, 36 through 50 at Simon, the Pharisees house, where Jesus gives to him a lesson concerning grace and forgiveness. We see it in Luke 14, where Jesus on the Sabbath healed a man who had dropsy and the people were there watching him to see what he would do on the Sabbath. And then he taught him about the mercy and grace of God. We see it in Luke 19, verses one through 10, when he's at Zacchaeus's house and he was accused of being at the house as a guest of a sinner. He did this often. As a matter of fact, he ate so often, there was a charge that was formed against him for doing so. In Luke 7, 34, he had said, the sinner man has come eating and drinking. You say, look, a glutton and a wine bibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. And so Jesus would eat very often at people's houses. And when he went to dinner, he would use the opportunity to reach the people. And he didn't seem to mind whom he ate with. And I'm sure, and some of us really don't think about it this way, but I'm sure that it wasn't always polite conversation at the table. I think that sometimes I have, perhaps you have too. You have thought that when Jesus would walk into the room and sit down, that everybody would become politely quiet, that they all would speak with their best speech and all act out with their best manners. And I'm convinced that's not true at all, because that wouldn't be real. That wouldn't be a real thing. Marie and I, the other day, just this last week, went to eat breakfast. And as we were eating breakfast, they seated us in a certain place and we sat down and right next to me was two young men and they were talking loudly and one kid kept pulling out his music and playing it and get this loud music and all. And it's just an entirely different experience than when we grew up because as we grew up, obviously, when you went out to dinner, it was because you wanted to get out of the noise of your house. So you'd go to a restaurant and it would be quiet. There'd be polite conversation around the table. We were all aware of the fact that there were people around us, but today they want you to join in the conversation. So they're loud and they make noise and they play their music and that's what was going on. And this one kid began to use a lot of profanity and we're sitting within four feet of them. And he's just using this language and I turned to Marie and I said, I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a dad. I'm pretty sure. I'm pretty sure he never learned to be polite in public and he thinks this is normal. And as I was there, I turned and I looked at him because he was using some pretty bad words. And I looked at him and I was going to say, son, could you kind of quiet it down a bit? We've got a lady at the table, but he didn't look at me. He got quiet because he could see that. He was right there. He could see it. I had my fork out. Now he could see it. And then the Lord just spoke to my heart and I was talking to Marie and I started saying, you know, as I just was thinking about when Jesus would go and have a meal, I'm pretty sure that there would have been people exactly like what we're experiencing right now. Exactly like that. Seated next to him, using language that they wanted to use, being rude. And the Lord spoke to my heart and he said, you've gotten old. I said, what? I can't hear you. He said, no, you, you said you've gotten, you, he said your heart. Be careful how you feel. Be careful what it would irritate you. Look for an opportunity rather than getting offended. You know what I'm saying? Perhaps some of us might need to hear that too. Be careful. It's not that I wouldn't correct. I will if necessary, but I don't expect anything either. I don't expect them to say, oh, great, sir, forgive me. I don't expect that. But at the same time, sometimes you feel the agitation and say, you know, son, this is a restaurant. This isn't where you should be. You want to correct. You do, I do. And then the Lord said, you need to remember that Jesus would go into various places and I'm sure it wasn't polite. But he always found a place of opportunity to share about grace and love, even though they could be greatly offensive. And so I was thinking about that after that meal and I added that to my notes to remember even as we go through this, because Christ Jesus is on a meal. He's at a meal at a woman's house. And we want to look at that today because the title of this message is mentioned is laboring or listening. Because I believe that we as Christians have to realize that it's best to listen before you labor. And Martha made the mistake of laboring without first listening. That's what we're looking at here in this passage. Let me give you its context. Let me develop a foundation. I'm moving to some application and we'll look at this passage together today. Again, in verse 38, it happened as they went that he entered a certain village, a certain woman in Martha, welcomed him into her house. So Jesus and his disciples are near the city of Jerusalem, if you were looking at a map and they're entering into a village. The village is called Bethany. We know that the village is named Bethany because John in chapter 11 tells us that that's where Martha lived. She lived in the city of Bethany. It's a small village two miles northeast of the city of Jerusalem. And it says here in verse 38, he entered into a certain village, Jesus Bethany, and a certain woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And so we're introduced to a woman by the name of Martha, but I also want to point out that she welcomed Jesus into her house. So this is one of Jesus' disciples. Her name is Martha. This isn't the only place that you see Martha. We encounter her twice in the gospel of John. You see her in chapter 11 and you see her in chapter 12. What's interesting in verse one is that Luke tells us that Martha welcomed Jesus into her house and by referring to it as her house, he's giving us some insight. One is she may very well be a widow because she owned the home. And also by the way she acts, she reveals to us that she's the older sister. It says in verse 39, she had a sister called Mary who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. And so she had a sister named Mary who would have been her younger sister. This is Mary. Again in John chapter 11, verse two, Mary is mentioned as well as the brother named Lazarus. But notice here in verse 39 how Luke makes it clear that Mary sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. She sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. This is a way for Luke to tell us that Mary was a believer. She was seated at his feet because during that day sitting at the feet was a picture of someone being someone else's disciple. So they would use that phrase they sat at the feet of in reference to the fact that they were a disciple of the person who was teaching. In Acts 22, verse 31, the apostle Paul spoke about that. He said, I am indeed a Jew born in Tarsus, Ecclesia but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel taught according to the strictness of our father's law. When he said seated at the feet of Gamaliel, he was saying I was one of his disciples. He mentored me. So Mary sat quietly at his feet. Sitting at his feet revealed that she was ready to receive his word. And it also revealed that she would be submitted to what the word had to say. Some people will sit at the feet, if you will, listening but not all people sit at the feet listening with a willing obedience. There are a lot of people as we know who will hear a Bible study who have already made up their mind they're not gonna do anything that bothers them. She was in that way. She sat at the feet not only listening but with a heart that was willingly obedient. She sat quietly at his feet attending to his teaching for he embraced every opportunity of imparting the knowledge of divine things to such as were willing to receive it. And so Jesus came to do his father's will and he was always busy about his father's business. And she would sit there to listen to the one who was of that nature. We see in the scriptures that Jesus rose up early in the morning to pray and he would spend the rest of the day teaching and ministering. And whenever he had opportunity, he would give people the word of God. We can think that genuine Bible teaching occurs only in a church building but that's obviously not true. Jesus often ministered and taught in homes. And you see it again in scripture in Mark 1, 29. As soon as they had come out of the synagogue they entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. And this is where Jesus healed Simon's mother-in-law. In Mark chapter two, verse one, it speaks of Jesus ministering in a home when he healed a paralytic. In Matthew nine, verse 10, it speaks of Jesus ministering in Matthew's home. So there was a lot of ministry that would take place in homes. This is an example of it but you see it throughout the scriptures. The early church didn't always meet in buildings. They often met in homes. As a matter of fact, meeting in a home was an early practice of the church. In Acts 20, verse 20, Paul said, I kept back nothing that was helpful but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly and from house to house. In Romans 16, verse five, greet the church that is in Priscilla and Aquila's house. Colossians 415, greet the brethren who are in Laodicea and Nymphus and the church that is in his house. And Philemon II speaks of the church that was in his home. There were times in the early church, didn't have buildings. The church would meet in homes and it doesn't have to be that you're in a church to be taught the things of God. I taught in homes for years. My first Bible study I ever taught back in 1973 was in a house. Then the second study that I began to do was also in a house in Norwalk and then there was another study that I did in the city of Ontario and I taught a home study in Montclair. I've taught in a lot of homes. This church began in a home study in Pomona and our first church building was a house. And so you can meet in a house, you can teach the word of God in a home. Today, even this day, there are studies and fellowships that occur in homes from our church. Many lessons are not learned in church buildings, they're learned in homes. Not only in home, adult Bible studies and in home family devotions and the place that Christian maturity develops best is in the home. It's in the word and so the word of God belongs in a home and Jesus is there in a house. Home Bible studies continue that tradition. The church began and used homes and that's how it works because many lessons are not learned in church buildings, they're learned in the home. That's why I encourage any parents in here to make sure you impart to your kids the word of God in your home. Don't teach them that there's certain behaviors that occur in a church building and certain behaviors that occur in a house. What you learn in the home, you live everywhere, right? So we need to see that in this particular case. We see Jesus is going to meal, but in a meal he's teaching. You've got Mary who's seated at his feet listening. Well, Martha is in the kitchen, if you will, preparing a meal. But that's what would take place all the time. Whenever Jesus was asked, would you come over? He would do a work. Very often he would give a teaching. Sometimes he would be such a blessing to one person and offend somebody else, but that's what he did. And that's what we're seeing here right now. He taught everywhere, not just in a temple, not just in synagogues. Jesus taught on city streets. Jesus taught on mountains. He taught on lakes. He even taught in graveyards. The message of grace can be given everywhere. It should start in our homes. And it's obvious that Mary loved sitting at the feet of Jesus, soaking in his teachings. Receiving his word was her joy. It was a pleasure. It had infinite and eternal value to her. Like it says in Psalm 119, 103, how sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth. Jeremiah 15, 16, your words were found and I ate them. Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart, for I'm called by your name, oh Lord God of hosts. And so Luke says in verse 39, notice that she sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. The word heard in the original language, Greek language, it means to consider what has been said. When it speaks of her hearing his word or she heard his word, it can be defined to find out, to learn, to understand. Mary sat at his feet as a disciple, humbly hungering to understand his word. She wasn't one of these who would say that's a hard saying, who can understand it and just walk away. There are a lot of people who look at their spiritual lives like that. It's sad, but it's true. This is difficult to understand or it's quite a challenge. I'm not ready for it. That wasn't Mary. Mary sat there with humility, saying that this man has the words of life and I want to receive from him and I want my life changed completely by him. You see if you desire to grow in your walk with God, that's how you as a believer ought to listen. In Psalm 131, 1 and 2, it says, my heart is not proud, oh Lord. My eyes are not haughty. I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me, but I have stilled and quieted my soul like a weaned child with its mother. Like a weaned child is my soul within me. Like a weaned child. And a baby is newborn and is nursed. Very often they will want to nurse even though they're not hungry. They will do that. There's some kind of attachment that they have sometimes that is very real and they're bonding with their mama and they just want to be attached to her but not necessarily nursing. When they get to be weaned, when they no longer need to be nursed, that baby stops always tugging at the breast and that baby begins to just feel comfortable settled in in the arms of their mama. And so that's what the Psalmist is saying. I'm a weaned child. I'm a child that wants to be close to the heart or the one who feeds me. And that's what it is when you get in the word of God. I want to be close. It's obvious that Mary knew that she had spiritual needs and it's obvious she knew that Jesus is the one who meets him and she knew that the best place for her was sitting at his feet receiving his instruction. She knew that Jesus gave words of life and wanted to receive from him. In Psalm 119, 130 it says, "'The entrance of your words gives light.'" He gives understanding to the simple. That simple thing I just said is lost on many today who are professing to be Christian. If you say you believe God's word provides you with all the spiritual insight necessary for a healthy and satisfied life, even Christians will consider you unenlightened and simple. Somehow Jesus has become deficient in the minds of many who profess Christ. John MacArthur once said, "'Can you imagine one of today's "'professional radio counselors simply telling "'a herding caller that God's grace is enough "'to meet the need?' "'Contemporary opinion is more utilitarian, "'valuing physical comfort more than spiritual well-being, "'self-esteem above Christlikeness, "'and good feelings over holy living.'" Many Christians seeking a sense of fulfillment have turned away from the rich resources of God's all-sufficient grace and are engrossed instead in a fruitless search for contentment in hollow human teachings. And that has taken place today. Instead of getting into the word and listening to what Christ has to say, people turn to other counselors. They want to hear what somebody else has to say, not Mary. Mary sat at the feet of Christ and received his word. You see, it's an incredible blessing when you consider it to be able to do something like that, to actually hear words of life from its source. What could be more of a blessing to hear God's word sitting at the feet of Jesus? When you read your Bible, you see that when Jesus would speak, people would listen intently. And many were amazed at the way he spoke. Luke 4.22 says all bore witness to him and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. Could you imagine that? To hear Jesus Christ as he spoke. And the gracious words that would proceed out of his mouth that people would just hunger for and listen. And that's what Mary was doing. I mentioned to you a while back how that some had come to arrest Jesus and had come back without arresting him and the Pharisees who had sent them to arrest Jesus said, where is he? And all they could say in John 7.46 was no man ever spoke like this man. When they heard him speak these gracious words, they were spellbound. Can you imagine being in a home waiting to eat, sitting in a small front room area, Mary's right there at his feet listening intently to things that he says. And the words are proceeding out of his mouth graciously. And she's just drinking it in, she's hearing what he says. And the internal light is being ignited. But as this is taking place and if you can get that in your mind's eye, this quiet scene in a front room, if you will, there's another scene going on in the other part of the house. In verse 40, Martha was distracted with much serving. So what's taking place is he's, oh man, I've got so many I have to take care of. And she's so busy and it says she was distracted. That word distracted means to be driven about mentally. She was over occupied and speaks of being too busy about a thing. She's being pushed back and forth by conflicting cares. She's got something here and then she's seen something there. She's got something here, but she sees something over there and she keeps on looking over there and she's thinking, I've got so much going on here. I don't know what to do. And where's my sister? And she looks over there and there's Mary just leaning there like that. She's not happy. She's not a happy big sister at all. She can't understand what's going on. Now, to be fair, we can understand why she'd be distracted. She's preparing supper for 16 people. You've got Jesus, you've got his 12, you've got Mary, you've got Lazarus, and you'd include her. There's 16 people gonna eat. That's a large meal. And there's no doubt you made a lavish meal for them. And that would be a great amount of work. It's like she's making a Thanksgiving dinner by herself. I don't know what you guys eat on Thanksgiving. I'll assume it's a turkey. Some eat hams and eat roast. But if you're making a turkey, that's one thing you look at it every once in a while. I just thought of it. The first time we had a Thanksgiving dinner, we invited my mom and my dad over into our home. It was, Mary had never made a turkey before? Never. And so we invited mom and dad. We'd like to have you over for Thanksgiving. And they arrived at six that afternoon and Mary had just put the turkey in. She had just put the turkey in at five. We didn't eat Thanksgiving until almost midnight. Until almost midnight. But anyway, and it was really good. The distraction, all the noise, all the hustle, all the bustle, all those people. She's doing the best that she can for Jesus. She's making the best meal that she can prepare. I don't think she was just trying to impress him. I believe she wanted to provide what he deserved. She was giving her best offering and she wanted it to be a blessing to him. And she may have resented the fact that her sister is seated while she's standing. Now that's one of the most common temptations believers are trapped by. We can become overly concerned with what we're doing and forget why we do it. Have you ever planned an event and gotten frustrated and just wanted to get it over with? You're having Thanksgiving or Christmas, Easter, and all of these are religious celebrations. But even though it's built on such amazing things, you can get upset. You can get tired, you can get frustrated. You can say, I wish this is just over. You know, there are people I've spoken to is, yeah, Thanksgiving is coming. Yeah, I dread it. I dread it. Why? Because the family's coming over. Families can be fun. They can be fun or they can be frustrating. And they gather together and you're at the table and before you know it, your daughter and your sons start going at it over something dumb and you get to the point. I'll tell you, when my kids were in their teen years, my two oldest just would, they would go at it with each other. They would just say something dumb and the other one would get mad and then they'd say something back and I'd be sitting there eating and I'd be looking at this and I'd say, I finally, I told Brewery, I'm not taking those brats out anymore. You want to take them out, you take them out. I'm not, I don't want, they're just always grumpy with each other and it makes them meal and sometimes it would be loud enough for people at the next table to hear us snipping at each other. It's not always fun. It's not always fun and especially if you were in that kitchen, by yourself, doing everything and then you're looking and you're saying, man, I could use some help, I'm making a meal for 16 people and she's over there laying, they're going, oh, Jesus, Goo Goo Gaga. I mean, this bothers me. It bothers me. Why are you doing that? And that's what happens to her. She's distracted. Her mind is moving from place to place with much serving. So what does she do? She approached him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me. Can you hear the frustration in her voice? She approached him. That word approached in the original. She came in the room hurriedly. She was in a tizzy. She was petulant. She was overworked. She was frazzled and perhaps even a bit jealous of Mary who's there close to Christ when she's in another room. So she's blaming Jesus for what Mary seems to be neglecting. Now she's an older sister. My wife is the older sister. And I guess I must have some ladies in here that would be the older sister in the family. And I'm telling you, it's like Marie is like a second mother to her siblings. To this day, they still look at her when there's decisions being made because she's the older sister. They carry a lot of authority and power. They really do. And Martha walks in and she's using her authority and she is upset and she begins to complain and she walks in and you've got to see it. It's almost like she takes her apron off and throws it on and she comes walking in with her hands on her hip, you know, kind of like that. And she's speaking to the Lord and she speaks disrespectfully. She not only questions him, she takes it upon herself to give him orders. Don't you care that my sister's left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me. Can you hear that? I've never told Jesus what to do. I have done it so many times in my prayers. Lord, if you would only do it this way. I know you're busy with the universe and perhaps you could use a little advice. Sometimes my prayers are like that, instructive rather than asking. Then notice, she's giving him orders. Don't you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me. Seeing that she's busy listening to you, how about telling her as she's listening to help me? Now, what do we learn? What do we learn from Martha that is not proper when we serve the Lord? Well, one, Martha attached too much importance to what she was doing for Jesus. As the hostess, she was just too busy to enjoy what was going on herself. Serving Jesus became a work and a duty and her motives were no longer pure. For Martha, what more than likely had begun in the right spirit ended up in the flesh. An elaborate meal or a perfect order in the house was not necessary for Jesus. Martha's perfectionism and frustration interrupted a Bible study. Think about that. Her concern for herself was greater than her concern for the people learning from God himself. And that's what can happen. She forgot who she was serving and she began to take it personally and she got frustrated. In Colossians 3, 23 and 24, whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men. Knowing that from the Lord, you will receive the reward of the inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ. Remember that you may be in ministry, you may be serving, somebody didn't show up, you're carrying the extra load and you get upset and you complain to the Lord, don't you care? I've already got so much I'm doing and now I have to carry this. It's just not fair. I'll keep that in mind. That was Martha. A second unnecessary thing was Martha's anxious and troubled mind. Again, Martha became distracted. She was overwhelmed, mentally stressed and because of the work, she lost touch with the peace and joy that is given her by the Lord. Serving the Lord isn't simply a work, it's a work of love and it's done for him out of a thankful heart. In Colossians 3, 15, let the peace of God rule in your heart to which you are also called in one body. Be thankful. So our service to the Lord is not out of obligation, it's a joy to serve him. It's God's love for us that has fueled our love for him and we joyfully serve the Lord. It's like what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5, 14, the love of Christ compiles us. And when you lose sight of why you serve Jesus Christ, you will also lose his peace and joy. A third unnecessary thing was Martha's attitude toward people. She resented serving all by herself and was angry because nobody was helping her. Here's the question. Who wants to eat a meal prepared by a grumpy cook? Remember 2 Corinthians 9, 7 says, God loves a cheerful giver. So I've come to see that serving the Lord is a joy and it's fulfilling. Our regular occupations cannot give a sense of spiritual joy and fulfillment that we need. Our regular occupations cannot do that. Ruling Egypt didn't satisfy Moses. Being a shepherd did not satisfy David. Tending fruit trees did not satisfy the prophet Amos. Fishing did not satisfy John. Gathering taxes did not satisfy Matthew. Nationalistic politics did not satisfy Simon the zealot. Money did not satisfy Zacchaeus. Religion did not satisfy Nicodemus and theology did not satisfy Paul. So serving God fills a void that our jobs cannot fill. We have people in this church, roshers and childcare ministers and variety that in their day jobs, they're prestigious, lawyers and things of that sort. Serving the Lord, the practice of law is not fulfilling them. What fulfills them is serving God. That's where your true fulfillment comes from. No matter what the occupation you have, it may be good, it provides food for the table, pays your bills and that's a good thing. Thank God for jobs. But spiritually, they never satisfy. They can't, how can they drive in a truck? How is that gonna satisfy my spiritual hunger? And so it's always good to serve the Lord because he fulfills that and satisfies that desire. And a fourth unnecessary thing was her disrespect. She made comments to the Lord and there were others present. Imagine that. She walks in and picture will say at the door with her hands on her hips, looking at Jesus, but there's all these people there and she starts, imagine that. I wonder how the people responded to that. That might have been an interesting selfie. How do you think? Do you think they looked at her like? I probably, I don't know. It must have been an odd feeling for her to stand there. Don't you care? Tell her to help me. And you've got all these people looking up at her and she's interrupted the word of God. And she's interrupted that with her complaint. Don't you care? How can you ever ask God? That kind of question. Don't you care? Don't you? Jesus died on the cross to show me how deeply he cared. And you're asking him, how come you don't care for me? Cause I'm not doing what you want right now to satisfy you and that clock in your head that this has to be done at your time or it's not the right thing and I'm not good and I don't care. That's how we can be with the Lord. How come you're not moving? How come you haven't helped? Oh Lord, I have cried you. I'll never forget the young lady who said to me, is Lord gonna ever answer my prayer? I've been in such a trial. I've been asking God to help me. I've been in this trial for three weeks already. I had three weeks. You know, some trials last longer. I've been married a long time for Marie. Some trials can last a lifetime. When are you gonna remove it? And the Lord says, no, this is that thorn in your flesh that keeps you dependent on me. You're asking me to remove that which draws you close to me. You don't understand? Don't you care? That is the worst thing. Listen carefully that you can ever ask of God. God, don't you care? And there are so many. You know why we say that? Because we think he's on our timetable and we think he's supposed to be our butler in heaven. We might as well pray that our butler who aren't in heaven because that's what we think God is very often. You move when I say and you do what I need and if you don't, you don't love me. So we try and put this move on the Lord to bring him under submission to our will when in fact, God is doing what is necessary so I can be what I've prayed for. I wanna be a man of God. And he says, all these things in your life to test you in order to refine you, to purify you so that I can work best with you. And that's what takes place. We are the clay. He is the potter. We are all the works of his hand. I was speaking to a potter on one occasion. I know nothing about throwing pots. I smoked a lot of pots, but I didn't, I don't know anything about throwing them. And he was saying to me as a potter, he says, you can take this clay and he's telling me how he made pots and things. And he says, but you know, there's always the willful clay. And he used that term. I said, willful clay, now I've never heard that. What is willful clay? He said, willful clay, we call it willful clay because it has a mind of its own. He says, you'll get it, you put it on the wheel, you begin to spin it, you take your hands, you wet them, you begin to work with the clay, but it has a mind of its own. It will not be shaped by your hands. And he says, you know what we usually do with that? That willful clay. I said, what? He said, we make ashtrays. We'll make some vessel that has no honor. It's not necessary. It's a willful clay. And that connected with me when Isaiah said, you are the potter and we are the clay and we're the works of your hand. And that's when I began to pray, God, help me not to be willful clay. Help me not to be that kind of clay that tells you what to make me into. God is the potter. We are simply the clay. And he forms us in his image. That's how it works. And we need to understand that. So God does that work. So she accuses Jesus if not caring and demands that he tell Mary to help her. And again, that's the inevitable result of laboring in the flesh. We blame God for our own dissatisfaction. And we believe that he isn't aware of what's going on. Like the psalmist in Psalm 10 verse one said, why do you stand afar off, oh Lord? Why do you hide in times of trouble? All of that Martha was doing for Jesus was appreciated. But it wasn't the highest priority. So in verse 41, Jesus answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you're worried and troubled. You're worried and troubled about many things. Your busyness to serve me, undermine your opportunity to learn of me. In Matthew 11, 28, Jesus says, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. And you have failed to understand that at my feet is the best place because that's where you get rest. But you, you're so busy that you're not resting in me. And he goes on and says, one thing is needed. Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her. Mary has chosen the most important thing, to fellowship with me, to be taught by me so she knows how to serve me. It's like what it says in Psalm 27, four, one thing I have desired of the Lord and that will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. To behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. She knew the one thing most needed was for her to be seated at the feet of Christ. And at his feet, she's drinking in his word, she's loving him, she's fellowshiping with him. And that equipped her to offer service to him, springing from understanding and love. When you get married, even prior to that, but once you're married, should you get married? You begin to learn some things about the person you're married to. There are things that you can do that you think is showing them that you love them when in fact it's something they don't want or need. And then you get hurt feelings because they don't see this thing that you did was from your heart for them because it's the way you show love. And in marriage, I had to learn that with my wife because there were things that I would do that I thought were showing her, I loved her, that just irritated her. And we had to learn how to communicate, that takes some time. I used to write Marie handwritten Valentine Days cards. I love you baby, you're the sweetest or whatever, and I'd put them in an envelope and give them to her. One day, about three years into our marriage, she said, are you too lazy to go to the store and buy me a card? I said, what? I would write her songs. I would do those things because I'm of that sort. But she didn't appreciate it. She would say to me, it is greater demonstration of your love to me if you take the time out of your life to actually purchase something. And I thought, are you kidding me? This takes creative urges. She said, yeah, and it's also free. No, no, it cost me my soul. No, she, so I ended up getting her cards and things like that because that's how she understood love. I didn't appreciate it. I thought it hurt my feelings. I'll be real with you. It hurt my feelings. I thought, man, she's thinking that I'm doing this because I'm cheap. How'd she know? No, she's thinking, and it hurt, but you know what? She's long come ago. I won't say this second service because it bothers her. I'm telling you guys, she's not here because she said, I didn't realize at that time that's how you showed your love to me. See, so we have to learn. This is so practical. We need to learn the love language of the other person. We have to learn that language. What is love to me may not be love to her. It may not be what she thinks is love. She's got her own way of defining it. I had to learn her language and it's not easy learning a second language. It isn't, but you have to learn it. And I've done that. I've learned her language. Yeah, she comes up with new words every once in a while and I gotta figure that one out. And she does the same with me. She does the same with me. Giving somebody something they don't want is never appreciated. So Mary was learning to give Jesus what he wanted. So she's not forcing him, she's learning from him. And Martha had to learn the love language of Christ. One thing matters, Jesus said. Mary chose the greater part. I don't need your matzabal soup. Martha, I need your heart. I don't need your sweat. And all that bustling and banging those pans and then what does it do? You come in and complain and order me around? No, your sister knows what to do. She listened to me and she knows what it is I require. Whereas you, you think your work is something I need, which it isn't. What I need is your full attention because all service to the Lord begins at his feet. And some of us in this room have forgotten because we get busy trying to serve God and please God when all the Lord is saying right now is can you settle down for a minute? Can you just take a breath? Can you stop complaining to me about all that's not going on that you want? And do you honestly think I'm not in control of what's going on? And I need your advice. Have you ever thought to just sit and be still like a weaned child and enjoy my fellowship so I can show you things about me that you can take to others that are fresh and real and for the moment? Or do you really think I need your efforts? Because I don't, because I don't. What I need is your heart. And that's where ministry begins. Not in all that we do, but in all that we hear. And then we do that which pleases him. That's where it begins. We wait on the Lord. Isaiah 40, 31. Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. And that's what Mary was doing. And that's what the church today needs to learn to do again.